Microsoft has pushed out PowerToys 0.101, and it is one of the bigger releases the toolkit has seen in months. The update adds a brand new window-switching utility, brings on-device AI to Advanced Paste, and reworks how Command Palette looks and feels. Several existing tools also pick up meaningful upgrades rather than small bug patches.
What’s New in PowerToys 0.101
The update splits into one new tool, a reworked update manager, and a set of upgrades to five existing utilities. Here’s what each one changes.
Window Hopper Switches Between Windows of the Same App
Window Hopper is the headline addition in this release. It works like the native Alt + Tab shortcut, but it only cycles through windows belonging to the app currently in focus. If several File Explorer windows, browser windows, or code editor instances are open, the configurable Alt + ` (backtick) shortcut jumps between just those windows instead of scrolling through everything running on the desktop.
A Redesigned Update Manager
Alongside the new utility, this release also changes how PowerToys handles its own updates. A new Update channel setting under Settings > General lets users pick between Stable and Insider. Stable stays the default, while Insider unlocks PowerToys Preview builds for anyone who wants upcoming features before they reach the stable release. The chosen channel stays visible even when the setting is collapsed, and preview builds are clearly labeled so they’re not mistaken for stable ones.
The update process itself gets a visual overhaul too, with clearer badges and a compact status view that tracks each step from checking and downloading through installation or errors. Reporting a problem is easier as well, since the redesigned flow surfaces progress details, quick access to the generated diagnostic ZIP file, and a prefilled GitHub issue.
Command Palette Gets a Compact Mode
Beyond Window Hopper and the update manager, the rest of this release goes toward reworking tools that were already part of PowerToys, starting with Command Palette. The renamed successor to PowerToys Run now supports an optional compact mode. Instead of opening as a large interface, it appears as a small search box at a configurable vertical position and expands once a search returns matching results. Users can also press the Down Arrow or Tab key to expand it manually. Compact mode stays off by default, so the full-size experience remains unchanged unless someone opts in.
Command Palette picks up a few smaller changes alongside compact mode. Search ranking improves, Window Walker results now get cached for faster repeat searches, extensions can show richer toast notifications, and deep links can jump straight into a specific listing in the Extension Gallery.
Advanced Paste Adds On-Device AI With Phi Silica
The clipboard tool Advanced Paste gets the update’s other major change: local AI support. It can now run clipboard transformations locally using Microsoft’s Phi Silica model on supported Copilot+ PCs, removing the need for a cloud API key. The setting lives inside Advanced Paste Settings, where the app checks Phi Silica availability and downloads the model when needed. Each custom action can be assigned its own provider, prompt, and keyboard shortcut, so local and cloud-based models can run side by side. The AI section can also be hidden entirely for anyone who does not use it.
PowerDisplay Gets Linked Brightness Controls
Away from clipboard and AI, the monitor-control tool PowerDisplay also picks up new options this release. It introduces a linked brightness option that adds a single All Displays slider for every compatible monitor, while still allowing individual displays to be adjusted on their own through an expandable panel. The utility can now wake supported monitors from its power-state control, and a new command-line interface lets scripts inspect displays, change settings, and apply saved profiles without opening the app.
Quick Accent and Mouse Jump Move to WinUI 3
The update also continues Microsoft’s push to modernize PowerToys under the hood. Quick Accent and Mouse Jump both move to the WinUI 3 framework as part of that effort. Quick Accent keeps its familiar character picker but adds better DPI-aware placement and an optional press-and-hold activation mode, where holding an accent-capable letter opens the picker instead of a full press. Mouse Jump gets an updated interface with more reliable behavior across multi-monitor and mixed-DPI setups, and it now ships release builds for both x64 and ARM64.
Shortcut Guide Adds Search and Windows-Key Activation
Three smaller PowerToys utilities round out this release, each getting one standout addition rather than a full rework. Shortcut Guide can now open by holding the Windows key and includes a built-in search bar to find a command without scrolling the full list. It also adds coverage for apps such as Brave Browser, the new Outlook for Windows, DaVinci Resolve, 1Password, and Obsidian.
ZoomIt Adds DemoMirror for Dual-Screen Presentations
ZoomIt introduces DemoMirror, a feature that mirrors a screen, a selected region, or a specific window to a second display during presentations. The tool also gains webcam background blur, microphone noise cancellation, and new WebP screenshot support.
Mouse Highlighter Gets a Ripple Click Effect
Mouse Highlighter adds a Ripple mode that shows a smooth animated ripple on every click, with adjustable size, intensity, and duration, replacing the older approach of dimming the whole screen to locate the cursor.
Other Fixes Across the Toolkit
PowerToys 0.101 also carries a long list of smaller changes to utilities not covered above:
- FancyZones: Layout spacing and zone-count edits now apply immediately, and a new opt-in window rotation mode moves eligible windows across connected displays.
- Keyboard Manager: Fixed startup and elevated file-picker issues in the editor, and improved Alt and AltGr remapping reliability.
- Peek: Added Unreal Engine project and plugin previews, restored
.tar.gzand.tgzpreviews, and added optional always-on-top and taskbar visibility settings. - PowerToys Run: Prevented stale searches from piling up worker threads and restored recent VS Code workspace discovery, including UNC paths.
- File Explorer Add-ons: Added policy-controlled Markdown previews for validated image paths and preserved transparency in SVG thumbnails.
- Image Resizer: Moved preset editing into a save-or-cancel dialog and strengthened the CLI’s validation and diagnostics.
- New+: Improved template renaming and placement of new desktop items near the context-menu pointer.
- Mouse Without Borders: Improved connections between paired computers with fresh encryption parameters.
- Always On Top and Grab and Move: Improved shutdown and sign-out reliability and fixed border-update crashes.
- Color Picker: Kept the picker out of its own zoomed preview and improved sampling reliability on certain displays.
How to Update to PowerToys 0.101
PowerToys checks for updates automatically, so opening the app and checking for updates from within Settings is usually enough. Anyone who wants the installer directly can grab the x64 or ARM64 build from the official GitHub release page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Window Hopper in PowerToys?
Window Hopper is a new utility in PowerToys 0.101 that lets users cycle between multiple open windows of the same application using a configurable Alt + backtick shortcut, instead of switching through every open window on the desktop.
Does Advanced Paste’s local AI work on every PC?
No. The on-device Phi Silica model in Advanced Paste requires a supported Copilot+ PC. Devices without that hardware can still use Advanced Paste’s existing cloud-based providers.
Is PowerToys 0.101 a stable release?
Yes. PowerToys 0.101 shipped to the Stable update channel. Users who want to test upcoming features earlier can switch to the Insider channel from Settings.
What is the shortcut for Window Hopper?
The default shortcut is Alt + ` (backtick). It can be reconfigured from Window Hopper’s settings page inside PowerToys.
Can Command Palette’s compact mode be turned off later?
Yes. Compact mode is an opt-in setting inside Command Palette Settings, so it can be switched back to the full-size view at any time.
